Twitter users posted photos of smoke rising from El Palito,
at Puerto Cabello on Venezuela's north coast, in the afternoon.

"There was a problem in the electrical system of El Palito
refinery, causing the temporary suspension in operations," PDVSA
said in a statement. "Re-establishment of industrial services
and pre-starting of process units was begun later," it added.

Venezuela's accident-prone refineries hit the headlines last
year with a gas leak at the Amuay facility that killed 42
people, the nation's worst-ever oil industry accident.
(Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Todd Eastham)